This invention relates to a circuit arrangement for operating a discharge lamp at a substantially constant power by means of a switch mode power supply having a variable input current and provided with switching means which switch periodically for controlling the input current by means of a drive signal generated in a drive circuit and formed from a signal S1 which is proportional to the input current and a reference signal, which circuit arrangement comprises means for generating the signal S1.
A circuit arrangement of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,038. It is achieved in the known circuit arrangement, to a good approximation, that the connected lamp is operated at a constant power. This is important for maintaining a desired colour temperature T.sub.c of the light radiated by the lamp. This is achieved in the known circuit arrangement, which has a down-converter as the switch mode power supply, in that the pulsatory current through the switching means is measured and the measurement signal obtained in this way is used as a feedback signal in the drive circuit for generating the drive signal for driving the switching means. The circuit arrangement is also suitable in the case in which the power at which the lamp is operated is itself adjustable, for example, for dimming of the lamp. If a different type of switch mode power supply is used, the input current will also be dependent on the switching of the switching means, but it need not necessarily be identical to the current through the switching means, neither need it necessarily be pulsatory. In such a case both a measurement of the input current and a measurement of the current through the switching means is suitable for obtaining the measurement signal. An advantage of the known circuit arrangement is that a comparatively simple control system is realised whereby the variations of the operating characteristics of the lamp need not be registered. A disadvantage of the control of the known circuit arrangement, however, is that fluctuations of up to approximately 3% occur in the lamp power, which are found in practice to lead to sometimes substantial differences in the colour temperature T.sub.c.